Service device



H. ZOIA.

SERVICE DEVI CE.

APPLICATION FILE D SEPT- B. 192]- Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

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HECTOR Z0111, OE CLEVELAND, OHIO.

SERVECE DEVICE.

antennae.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 8, 1922.

Application filed September 8, 1921. Serial No. 499,221.

T 0 (ZZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, Hno'ron Zora, a subject of the Government of Italy, residing at Cleveland, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Service Devices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same. A This invention relates to a novel form of dish and holder for spacing two dishes, containing food, apart, so that a series of dishes with interposed holders may be arranged in stacked relation to maintain the food in proper condition for service and also to greatly facilitate the service of the food on the plates, by reason of the fact that a large number of the plates and interposed holders in stacked relation may be carried by a sin gle waiter or attendant, or may be arranged upon a suitable truck and carried or transported to the tables.

In my prior Patents, Nos. 1,330,568 and 1,369,999, I have disclosed two types of service holders, or dish spacers or carriers, adapted to be interposed between successive dishes piled or stacked, to facilitate the service of several orders, and while said patented devices have been found generally satisfactory and effective for their intended purposes, it has been found desirable to provide an improved type ot holder associated with a special construction of dish that will insure the accurate stacking of the dishes and holders in such a manner as to prevent accidental dislodgement or displacement of any of the elements oi' the stack, that will materially reduce the weight of a given stack. and increase the durability and general effectiveness of the several elements.

To these ends the invention comprises a service holder or dish spacer formed as an open annular shell,preierably of sheet metal, having channel-forming rim sect1ons at its upper and lower edges and dishes coop crating with the holder or spacer preferably formed of china, sheet metal or other suitable material, provided with concentric annular grooves or channels on their upper and lower faces adapted to register with and receive t e flanges on the respective edges of the holder or spacer when the spacer and dishes are arranged in superimposed 0r stacked relation.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a transverse section through a service holder or spacer interposed between two dishes.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the dish.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates the body of the service holder or dish spacer, which is formed as an open annular shell, generally frusto-conical in form, provided at its upper end with an inwardly directed curved flange 2, adapted to receive and retain an annular cushioning ring 3, which may be made of rubber or any suitable material, and a similarly formed outwardly directed curved annular flanged on its outer end, in which is secured a similar cushioning ring said flanges 2 and l being so constructed and arranged that the ring 3 is adapted to engage the bottom of a superimposed dish, and the ring 4 to engage the upper face of a subjacent dish.

In order to facilitate the assemblage of the dishes and interposed service holders in stable stacks or piles, a special form of dish has been provided, the same comprising a body portion 10, provided with concentric grooves 11 and 12 on the upper and lower faces, respectively, the groove 11 being of the same diameter as the cushioning ring 5 in the bottom edge of the service holder or spacer, and forming a seat for said cushioning ring, and the groove 12 being of the same diameter and registering with the ring 3 seated in the top edge of the service holder or spacer, so that when the holder 1 is interposed between two dishes, ot the character indicated, a firm frictional engagement between the dishes and the interposed holder will be established, and accidental displacement of any of the elements will be effectively avoided.

The individual dishes may be made of any suitable material, but are preferably of china or sheet metal, and as the dishes and spacers are preferably made in uniform sizes, they are interchangeable and replaceable at will.

The invention isparticularly adapted for the service of a large number of orders or courses, in that many dishes containing the various orders or courses may be arranged in stacks, with the service holders or spacers interposed between the successive dishes, and several of the stacks may be readily carried by a single waiter, or by a suitable truck or service Wagon, and transported to the tables with safety and despatch.

Furthermore, the invention, as described, admits of a large number of food orders or individual courses being prepared and placed upon the individual dishes in advance of the time for serving them, as is always the case. when'a large number of persons are to be served, with the assurance that the food will be maintained in the proper condition as to temperature and moisture. to the exclusion of insects, dirt, foreign odors or other deleterious influences, for the reason that the food on a given plate is hermetically sealed by the successive dishes and interposed spacers.

A further advantage of the particular construction of the spacers and dishes is that the elements aforesaid, when disassembled, maybe stacked or nested in piles, thereby conserving storage space.

Furthermore, both the dishes and service holders are durable and may be, readily sterilized and cleansed.

What I claim is:

1. A dish holder comprising an openannular shell having an inwardly directed channel about its upper edge and an outwardly directed channel about its lower edge, and a ring seated in each of said channels, said rings adapted to engage grooves in superimposed and subjacent dishes, respectively.

2. A dish holder comprising an open annular substantially frusto-conical shell, having an inwardly directed channel about its upper edge and an outwardly directed channel about its lower edge, and a ring seated in each of said channels, said rings adapted to engage grooves in superimposed and subjacent dishes, respectively.

3. The combination of dishes having concentric annular grooves in their upper and lower faces, and a spacing holder comprising an open annular shell having rim sectionsat its upper and lower edges to engage the grooves in the upper and lower faces, respectively, of said dishes.

at. The combination of dishes having concentric annular grooves in their upper and lower faces, and a spacing holder comprising an open annular shell having channeled flanges about its upper and lower edges, and rings in said channeled flanges to engage the grooves in the upper and lower faces, respectively, of said dishes.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

HECTOR ZOIA. 

